This is an excerpt from this week's McGarry on Motherwell, a free Motherwell newsletter written by Graeme McGarry that goes out every Thursday at 6pm. To sign up, click here.
I have heard it said repeatedly now that Motherwell under Jens Berthel Askou so far are like Barcelona until they get to the box and Auchinleck Talbot (with the greatest of respect) in the final third, and as the clock ticked into the 109th minute up at McDiarmid Park on Saturday, it was hard to argue the point.
Thankfully, a moment of brilliance from Elliot Watt (who was somehow on the St Johnstone bench for much of his stay there last season) finally unpicked the lock, and the impressive Lukas Fadinger did the rest.
Incidentally, if Fadinger is representative of the type of player that Michael Wimmer was looking to bring to the club, perhaps Motherwell could retain the German’s services as part of the recruitment team. On a work from home basis, of course.
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Once again, there had been plenty of sexy soccer from the new-look Steelmen, with the passing patterns and movement often a joy to behold. But then, when it came time to deliver the coup de grace, the attacking players seemed to have a collective bout of mind fog. The ‘colourful’ gasps of exasperation often heard in the opening few games around the team passing out from the back are now being expressed whenever the ball gets to the other end.
There was so much to like about the options in that front area for Motherwell as well. Ibrahim Said is still getting up to speed, but is looking better by the week, and he was a box of tricks. Elijah Just ran himself into the ground and undoubtedly has great technical ability, but he is still a little ponderous when it comes to his decision making, spurning more than a few opportunities to get a shot away.
Esapa Osong, well, we’ll be kind and say that he clearly isn’t a right winger, where he was being asked to play, and is certainly still playing catch up with his fitness. More to come from him, hopefully.
It was also great to see young Zander McAllister making his debut late on, and his energy caught the eye. I'm still chuckling at referee David Dickinson's decision to penalise him after he was suplexed by a St Johnstone defender, mind.
Then we arrive at the man who seems to be copping a fair amount of the flak for the relative bluntness of the attack he is tasked with spearheading, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos.
For the record, I’m a big fan, and I have faith that he will come good.
Like Just, I don’t think there can be any doubt that the Aussie is giving his absolute all for the cause. He is carrying out a role that arguably doesn’t play to his strengths, but he is doing it with total commitment, and while the dirty work he is doing in his pressing may not be noticed or fully appreciated by all, you can bet that his teammates and his manager are fully aware of just how invaluable a role he is playing, even when he isn’t finding the net.
From an admittedly small sample size so far this season, he is in the 99th percentile in the Premiership for pressures and pressure regains, for example, so his work rate isn’t in question.
That being said, he does have to sharpen up when it comes to his finishing. The service to him was dismal for most of the day in Perth, but when the only real clear-cut opportunity fell his way, a poor touch on his thigh forced him wide and he was unable to salvage the chance.
The stats back up my theory though, with Stamatelopoulos also in the 99th percentile in the division for xG (expected goals) and the 96th percentile for touches in the opposition box.
If he keeps getting into dangerous areas, and the service to him improves a little, then the stats would suggest that the goals will come.
With the arrival of Callum Hendry this week though, the pressure is now on Stamatelopoulos to deliver, and fast.
Hendry is an intriguing capture. He has been lauded for his work rate at his previous clubs, and while the goals didn’t quite flow for him at MK Dons, scoring just four in 32 appearances, the reaction of their fans to his departure told you everything about how whole-hearted he is in his application.
He has a decent goal to game average of around one in four over his professional career, and Motherwell know only too well that he is capable of the spectacular, as evidenced in his thumping last-gasp finish past Liam Kelly a few years ago on another one of those nightmare afternoons for the Steelmen in Perth.
Like ‘taking it a game at a time’ and there being ‘no easy games at this level’, a great football manager cliché is that competition in the squad brings the best out of players, so let’s hope that rings true for both of these strikers. And whichever one Berthel Askou starts, he does so safe in the knowledge now that they can empty their tank and he has a ready-made replacement in reserve.
For me, I would give Stama another chance at Tynecastle. With his Motherwell Premiership scoring average around one in three games, he is due a goal, after all. And for his work rate alone, I think he has earned it.
